Various labels have been attached to articles so that the articles can be distinguished one from the other. For example, bar code labels are attached to articles of grocery and are scanned at a check-out counter in order to automatically identify the articles and to register the price of the articles as they are purchased.
Bar code labels have also been used in inventory control and monitoring. Accordingly, these bar codes may be scanned in order to track articles as they move into, through, and out of a storage area. It is also known to read the bar codes attached to the articles in order to access various computer records regarding the articles.
Bar code labels, however, have several drawbacks. For example, computer stored records that are accessed when a bar code is read do not move with the corresponding article. Therefore, if the article to which the bar code label is attached is remote from the computer, the records concerning that article cannot be immediately accessed if necessary.
Moreover, bar code labels cannot be read remotely. Thus, if it is desired to take an inventory of articles currently in the storage area, personnel must physically scan each label on each article one at a time in order to determine which articles are presently in the storage area. Such scanning requires the physical presence of the personnel at the location of the articles and is extremely time consuming. Additionally, because bar code labels cannot be read remotely, they cannot be used as security devices that can be detected if the articles to which they are attached are improperly removed from a secured area.
It is known to provide pallets, on which articles are stored, with a memory storage device. The memory storage device may then be used to retain inventory information about the components that make up the articles. The memory storage device can also retain the results of production steps, such as tests, that are performed on the articles. The pallet may be provided with a read and write terminal so that the information contained within the memory storage device can be read and so that information can be written for storage in the memory storage device.
Similarly, it is known to provide an RFID tag, having a memory storage device, on a cassette that holds semiconductor wafers. The memory storage device of the RFID tag may then be used to store pages of information including a factory ID number, a cassette ID code, a lot ID, a plant order number, the current operation and the next operation, a current quantity (i.e., the wafer count), the total cassette loops in lifetime, the cassette loops since bakeout, and an in-process flag (e.g., in-process or waiting.
Thus, records may be more closely associated with the articles. However, the records are still not stored on the articles themselves so that, if the articles are removed from the pallets or cassettes, the records regarding these articles are not easily accessed.
It is also known to attach radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to the articles themselves. The RFID tags can be read, as can bar code labels. However, unlike bar code labels, reading RFID tags does not require the physical presence of personnel because the tags can instead be read remotely. Thus, inventory can be taken more quickly because personnel are not required to walk around a storage area or other area in order to read the tags. Moreover, because RFID tags can be read remotely, they can be used as security devices. Thus, if someone attempts to surreptitiously remove an article to which an RFID tag is attached from a secured area, a remote reader can sense the tag and provide an appropriate alarm.
It has been known to use RFID tags in combination with computers to which the RFID tags are attached. Such RFID tags store a unique identification (e.g., a manufacturing site code and a serial number) for the computer, a description of the computer (e.g., model number, serial number, and date of manufacture), and security data related to the computer (e.g., a removal authorization and a predetermined communications sequence). These RFID tags, however, rely on the host computer for the transfer and storing of data.
Furthermore, transceivers, such as RFID tags, have been attached to the articles themselves and have included sensors for sensing environmental conditions that may affect the corresponding articles. A memory of the transceiver stores the environmental conditions sensed by the sensors. However, these tags store little other information.
Thus, none of the RFID tags used in the past have been capable of storing accurate information relating to the history of the goods to which the RFID tags are attached. For example, known RFID tags do not store information about the inventory history, shipping manifests, and maintenance related to the corresponding articles. Moreover, both a non-secure link and a secure link are not provided to read known tags. For example, while it is often useful to use a long range RF reader (i.e., a non-secure link) to read the ID stored in the RFID tag, and thereby verify the presence of the RFID tag and presumably the item to which it is attached, it is may not be desirable to use the long range reader to read other information stored in the tag because long range transmissions are more easily intercepted.
The present invention overcomes one or more of these or other deficiencies of prior art tags.